Bush

Republicans forced to fight in the east

The Republican party leadership was last night scrambling to rally votes in the western states and the midwest after facing a much tougher fight than expected in the east.

Party officials at the Bush campaign headquarters in Austin said the battle was being fought one suburb at a time.

In one of the crucial swing states, Florida, a Democratic surge in the big urban areas along the east coast was answered by a last minute Republican push to mobilise traditionally more conservative voters in the Florida pan handle on the north-western corner of the state around the state capital of Tallahassee.

The panhandle is culturally much more a part of the deep south than the rest of Florida where much of the population has come from liberal industrial areas in the north-east to retire.

In key urban areas in the mid-west, the Republicans were relying on the National Rifle Association to counter the mobilising efforts of the pro- Democrat unions. The Bush camp was also putting its faith in absentee ballots in some of the key states, like Florida, Washington and Oregon, many of whom party official said would be cast by military personnel, traditionally sympathetic to the Republican cause.

The Republican party chairman, Jim Nicholson urged Republican voters to turn up in strength in western states, telling reporters: "It's not over 'til its over. "

Like speculators who had gambled everything on a single investment, Mr Bush and his backers assembled under torrential rain in Texas last night to discover if the most expensive campaign in US history had paid off.

Large-scale corporate contributors checked in alongside Republican heavyweights at the Four Seasons hotel in Austin where the Texas governor and his family awaited the early returns. At the centre of the action was Karl Rove, the Bush strategist, who predicted winning 320 of the 538 votes in the electoral college, which formally determines the presidency under the constitution.

"It's going to be a long night for the Gore campaign," he said, adding that his staff were watching Florida, Pennsylvania and West Virginia in the east for early indications of the result.

His confidence however belied a nervous mood in the plush party headquarters. The well-dressed staffers there were aware that they were on the brink of becoming the new US political elite, but some were actively discussing the possibility of winning the popular vote and narrowly losing the contest in the electoral college.

In that case, one said: "There should be pressure put on the delegates to reflect the national will."

All but two states - Maine and Nebraska - cast their votes in the electoral college on a winner-takes-all basis, but delegates have been known to defy the majority vote in their states and switch their vote.

Anticipating an agonisingly close finish, the Bush campaign set aside $80m for an effort in the last two weeks to mobilise its core supporters. Officials said 110m pamphlets had been posted and 62m phone calls had been made.

About this article

Republicans forced to fight in the east

This article was published on
the Guardian website
at 21.14 EST on Tuesday 7 November 2000.
It was last modified at 06.19 EDT on Saturday 4 October 2014.
It was first published at 21.14 EST on Wednesday 8 November 2000.